SUCCESS DOESN’T COME CHEAP
JP McManus is not writing blank cheques for Limerick but winning is a costly business, insists Dowling
SHANE Dowling is aware of the fuss about the Wild Geese Trophy game in Sydney between Kilkenny and Galway and the criticism by the likes of Carlow hurler Paul Coady who believes the GAA should be doing more to develop hurling at home before bringing the elite teams abroad.
He heard the defence by Marty Morrissey and RTÉ co-commentator and
Sportsmail columnist Michael Duignan of the 15,000 crowd and how well the first inter-county hurling game to be played in Australia was received. Togging out with Na Piarsaigh in this afternoon’s AIB Munster Club SHC final against Ballygunner, Dowling would otherwise be in Boston where his Limerick teammates will compete in the Super 11s hurling competition which drew over 28,000 to the iconic Fenway Park last year and raised similar criticisms.
Dowling is honest enough to admit he can see the argument from both sides, that maybe this one isn’t black or white. ‘Paul Coady is 100 per cent right. Marty Morrissey and Michael Duignan are 100 per cent right. So there is no wrong answer,’ he says.
‘Reason being? If they have two or three hundred grand to spend, to go out foreign, why not pump that into some of the weaker counties and improve the game of hurling and have it at an extremely high level first.
‘On the other side of that, we’ve something unique here in Ireland and I do believe it needs to be broadcast abroad to show the people what we’ve got. We should be very proud of what we have. There is a lot of Irish people over in these places, in Sydney and in Boston. They are over there because they’ve family or work commitments. They don’t have the opportunity to come back home to see how this unique game is played, to see how much the standards have gone up in recent years. ‘So I do believe it should be cast out foreign to show those people the game live,’ he adds, as Na Piarsaigh seek to extend their proud 12-match unbeaten run in Munster, a sign of the healthy state of Limerick hurling. However, Dowling was taken aback by Coady explaining how a county like Carlow that, on the surface, appears to be making such stride – winning the inaugural Joe McDonagh Cup to qualify for the Leinster roundrobin next year – has seen its senior clubs drop from six to just four. ‘It’s shocking,’ admits Dowling. ‘The other side of that too is, in every county there are senior clubs that aren’t up to senior standard. ‘If you went around to all the other counties and started nitpicking, you could narrow down a lot of clubs around the country.’ And he understands the argument that the Joe McDonagh Cup finalists – Carlow and Westmeath – could have been brought out to Boston in place of two of the four top-tier counties among Limerick, Clare, Cork and Wexford that were invited. ‘You could. I’m not kicking to touch when I’m saying there is no wrong answer because there is a case for both sides of the story. You could 100 per cent promote these other games.’
But he makes the point about the Wild Geese Trophy. ‘Ask any Kilkenny or Galway lads “did it work?” and they’ll say “absolutely”. Sure of course they will, they get a free holiday out of it. I’d tell you the same! And you would too [journalists] if you were doing media.
‘I can see where they’re coming from. They want to bring the best counties over there to show the public the highest standard out there. That’s why they brought the All-Ireland champions and the League champions. So I can see why they are bringing the best to show the people over there what the best is like. ‘But I can see his point about bringing all the counties here up to a standard first. Then go.’ He feels there is a demand for a regular Sunday night magazine style show to supplement the club championship coverage of TG4. ‘[Former Laois footballer] Colm Parkinson put up a tweet last week that there is room for a Sunday Game of club championships and there is. Some of them games – the reports of them are glowing – so I definitely think there is room for something.
‘It’s like life, everything comes down to a bit of money. That’s the long and the short of it. No television company is going to put something on air if they are not making money. They are not a charity.
‘I think the GAA could do more. If a television channel say “we can do this” but there is a shortfall of 100 grand or 150 grand, somehow or other I’d say they’d find it in the accounts some place.’
That money conversation is something that has attached itself to Limerick’s All-Ireland triumph, as if sponsor JP McManus had written a cheque for a first title in 45 years.
‘I’ve a pain in my ear from people saying that to me. It’s stupid talk. But listen, that’s what Joe Public are going to say. They want to run with a story and more power to them. But that’s obviously not been the case.
‘But there is a huge financial cost to running teams these days. If you want to get the best out of a player you have to give him the best.
‘By giving a player the best, you need a lot of money. Supplements, food, training, physio – that’s their profession, you have to pay them. If you don’t have physio, you’re going to have an injured player. There is a huge cost, but what do you do?
‘We’re very lucky with the support we have down in Limerick but every county has a successful businessman as such. Or has a successful sponsor.
‘If you saw the sponsorship Limerick got this year, compared to what some of the perceived weaker counties got, I can guarantee you people would be surprised. There wouldn’t be a whole pile of difference.
‘I’ve a fair idea. It’s not as if we’re being fired in money left, right and centre, and that’s the perception out there. You see the amount of fundraising going on now in Limerick to cover the cost of the holiday. People think a cheque will be written and that’s the end of it, that’s not going to be the case. We work as hard as everyone else.’
With inter-county expenditure for counties rising to a combined €25 million in 2017, he brings up the suggestion of a placing a limit on spending.
‘The costs are extremely high but if you want the best… the only way then to stop that is to bring in a cap, the GAA bring in a cap, and I don’t think that is going to happen.’
In every county, there are clubs not up to senior standard